


Plum Blossoms

by IcyPheonix



Category: Kamisama Hajimemashita | Kamisama Kiss
Genre: Anime Canon Compliant, Drinking, M/M, Pining, Post-Canon, Sick Fic, Slow Burn, Tags to be added, mentions of one sided Mizuki/Nanami and one sided Kurama/Nanami, minor appearances from Tomoe and Nanami
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29460636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: Mizuki and Kurama share one thing in common, they both love Nanami. They also both struck out when she fell in love with Tomoe and not them.They were never particularly close, but a drunken heart to heart one night brings them closer together as they bond over mutual heartbreak.A MizaKura Slowburn fic
Relationships: Kurama Shinjirou/Mizuki
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been debating on if I should post this when I finish it or not and I decided not as it would be fitting to start posting on Valentines Day ~~pretend it's still Valentine's Day~~ (also this might give me to motivation to like, try and finish it)
> 
> I am both not surprised, but also disappointed in the last of content for this pairing. I guess I gotta make the content myself.  
> fair warning, i'm really only familiar w/ the anime.  
> This started as a one shot but then I got ideas and here we are.

Mizuki was warm. It was such a blissful, comforting feeling, being warm, especially when the warmth came from the closeness of another person. A side effect of being a snake really, he always needed to be warm, and people were warm.

He yawned widely before adjusting his coils as he pressed closer to the warm body he was pressed against.

When was the last time he'd been so close to someone? It used to be that he would fall asleep with his head in Lady Nanami's lap, lulled to sleep by his lady stroking his hair, only to later wake up in snake form being carried around. She was always so gentle. But those times were few and far between now, thanks to Tomoe, and not just because his jealous nature caused him to chase the snake away. It was that, obviously, but also, Nanami and Tomoe were a thing now, officially. Which meant that her affections were for Tomoe. That didn't mean that she wasn't kind or affectionate to anyone else, far from it, it was just that things were different now.

Mizuki sighed softly as his heat source moved about. The soft beat of a pulse thrummed near his head and the gentle breathing were both soothing sensations.

"Am I to take this to mean that you're finally awake?" asked a gentle, slightly teasing voice, finally breaking the silence.

Wait...

That was most assuredly _not_ the Lady Nanami's voice, nor any woman's voice for that matter. Opening his eyes, Mizuki lifted his head to look around, forked tongue tasting the air curiously.

He was wound around the very bare shoulders and neck of someone, his head resting along the dip of their collarbone. As he tuned his head every which way, and slithered around, he noticed several very damning things; his comfortable, warm bed sported a pair of large black feathered wings and deep red hair.

"Tengu-kun?!"

"Well, good morning to you too," replied the Tengu, clearly suppressing a slight laugh.

"What am I doing here? Why am I with you and not at Mikage Shrine?" asked Mizuki, slithering around to face him.

"That's the sort of question I should be asking," replied the Tengu, "Considering I'm the one who woke up with a snake asleep on his chest."

"So you didn't bother to wake me?"

"It seemed a shame to disturb you," he said, before chugging back a glass of water. "So I just put you on my shoulders."

Mizuki buried his face in his coils, wishing he could blush.

"So how are you feeling this morning? I'm pretty sure you drank more of that stuff than I did." The Tengu pointed to the empty sake jug on the table, a jug that clearly belonged to Mizuki and had previously been filled to the brim with sake. "And I got a hangover for my troubles."

"Fine I think. A little foggy on some details of last night, but fine otherwise. I can get drunk but I never get hungover."

"Lucky you. Considering how you pounded that stuff back though, I'm surprised."

"I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?" asked Mizuki, looking up at him.

"Embarrassing for whom, you or me? Because I'm not sure you can be embarrassed when you don't know anyone around you."

Mizuki whined and hid his face again.

"You were loud and a bit drunk, but that's about it," said the Tengu, detangling Mizuki from around himself and setting the snake on the table. "Here, keep an eye on the stove will you, I'm going to get changed."

Mizuki looked up and over at him as it finally dawned on him that the Tengu was completely topless, dressed only in a pair of pants. What on earth had happened last night? Surely he hadn't gotten that drunk had he? No, definitely not.

Banishing such thoughts from his head, Mizuki slithered off the table, reverting to his human form.

The Tengu's house certainly was large, especially since he lived alone.

' _It must be awfully lonely here,_ ' he mused.

Kurama sighed, rubbing his head with one hand as closed his bedroom door behind him. He'd never intended to bring Mizuki home, heck he hadn't even expected him to show up at the club. But he did, with a jar of sake in hand and had just about planted himself in Kurama's lap the moment he found him.

_Almost instantly Kurama knew something was wrong. Mizuki's green eyes always seemed to sparkle with playfulness and mischievousness, always seemed happy. But when Kurama looked at him there was no such sparkle in his eyes, only sadness. And if something made Mizuki sad it had to be bad.  
He quickly shooed away the curious onlookers that had gathered when Mizuki had arrived. As Kurama had learned the last time Mizuki had paid him a visit, the snake was very eye catching. His skin and hair were so fair and light, like porcelain or snow. Even his eyes were light and clear. He was, objectively, pretty, so it was no wonder that he turned heads and drew attention simply by being there._

_But random attention was not what he needed, especially since he had proven that he had no idea how to handle humans at the best of times._

_By the time Kurama turned back to Mizuki, the snake had already poured himself a cup of sake and started in on it._

_"It must be bad," he said, eyeing the cup in Mizuki's hand. "What happened? The fox chase you away again?"_

_Mizuki shook his head before taking a sip. "No, it wasn't Tomoe this time. It's just..." he downed the rest of the glass before pouring himself another. "I'm happy for them, I really am but...does it make me a bad person if I'm also not happy?"_

Oh _, so that was what this was about._

_"Because I am happy for the two of them, I really am. but I just...I'm jealous ok! I'm jealous." He sighed. "And I feel awful because of it."_

_"I suppose that's something we both have in common then," said Kurama, reaching across Mizuki to swipe the jug and pour himself a cup from it. "Sure I only wanted her power at first but, I did fall for her. And I guess I sorta hoped it would be me she'd pick." He sighed, "I guess we both struck out on that front huh?"_

_"I don't want to be jealous, I don't like how it makes me feel at all. It makes me feel, guilty and gross." Mizuki poured another glass and to Kurama's utter horror, chugged the whole thing back in a single swig. "But I can't help it."  
_

_Oh man, he really must have been feeling bad._

_The more Mizuki drank, the louder he became and Kurama desperately wanted to hide under the table, people were staring again, and not in an admiring sort of way either. He supposed it was only a small miracle that he wasn't preforming any more that night, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to keep an eye on the snake. Then again, that was assuming he could pry himself free in the first place.  
_

_"Kuramaaaaa," Mizuki whined, leaning against his arm, almost wrapped around it._

_"I think we should get you out of here," said Kurama, reaching for the jug with his free hand before Mizuki could take another drink. '_ And before you make even more of a scene. _'_

_With the sake jug in one hand, and Mizuki hanging off his other arm, Kurama spirited them back home the moment they were outside and away from prying eyes._

_In his current condition there was no way he could bring Mizuki back to Mikage Shrine, that would probably only serve to make things worse honestly. Besides, his place was large enough, Mizuki could crash on the couch for the night or something._

_At least that was the plan. Between Mizuki practically wrapping himself around his arm, and spilling sake all over his shirt-Mizuki stumbled and emptied the glass he was holding all down Kurama's front-Kurama just gave up and crashed into bed, he'd deal with it all in the morning when we he wasn't drunk and tired._

Kurama picked up his shirt from where he'd discarded it on the floor the night before and wrinkled his nose, it still stank of sake. Tossing it aside with the intention of doing laundry later, he headed to his closest to find something else to wear.

Properly dressed he poked his head out the door and spotted Mizuki, now back in his human form and apparently exploring the apartment.

"Find anything interesting?" asked Kurama, leaning against the door frame.

"Tengu-kun!"

"I can assure you, there's nothing here that'll be of any interest to you," he said, making his way over to the stove, turning the heat down before going to fish some things out of his fridge. "Feeling any better this morning?"

"I'm not sure, but I think so. I suppose I just needed to get it all off my chest."

"It sounded like you must have bottled it up for a while. I mean all it took was one drink and you were babbling and I know you're not that much of a lightweight."

Mizuki's face turned an impressive shade of scarlet and he buried his face in his hands with an embarrassed whine.

Ah, so it was possible to put colour on his cheeks.

"You know, if you're going to come into the city like that, we should get you a change of clothes," said Kurama.

"My clothes are fine."

"You stand out to much in what you're wearing." He gestured to Mizuki's hakama. "And you only have like, one other set of clothes. You need at least some variety."

"Well I don't plan on making a habit of coming to the city. I don't like it here, it's too noisy and smells, and the air here is so unclean," said Mizuki, folding his arms over his chest.

"What if I said I could find a place in the city that you would like?" asked Kurama with a grin, looking up from the frypan of food he'd been tending. Mizuki frowned, giving him a disbelieving look and Kurama continued, undeterred. "If you let me take you shopping after breakfast, I'll prove it to you."

"I need to get back to Mikage Shrine. I left without telling anyone last night, Lady Nanami is sure to be worried."

"Don't worry about it. I'll let them know you're with me. Besides, it's a good way to take your mind off things. You're no good to Nanami if you're moping."

Mizuki fidgeted about, twisting his hands together anxiously. "I don't know."

"Well, think about it over breakfast."

Apparently the promise of food and the potential to prove Kurama wrong was enough to convince Mizuki to stay.

Breakfast was a fairly quiet affair, prepared entirely by Kurama as Mizuki hovered near him, watching him curiously as he cooked.

"Is it really that fascinating?" asked Kurama as he tipped eggs onto their plates, Mizuki finally taking a seat.

"Well, usually Tomoe is the one doing the cooking and he doesn't like being bothered. And when Lady Nanami cooks it's usually those cups of dried noodles that you just add water too."

"Instant ramen?" Kurama laughed. "Well none of that here, usually." The only rare times that Kurama caved and bought and ate such things as instant ramen were for days he was too lazy to actually cook or just didn't have the energy to do so. "So eat up and then we can go."

Shopping was by far, not something that Mizuki would consider fun, even if he had agreed to let Kurama take him. How anyone found this fun was beyond him. They had to go deeper in the city where it was even noisier and the air even more impure; it wasn't as bad as when he'd gone into Toyko, but it was certainly nothing like back at the shrine. And it really didn't help that Kurama seemed to just attract attention wherever he went, which meant there were always eyes on them. Keeping a low profile was basically impossible.

And it did not involve just one store, oh no, to his utmost horror Mizuki found himself being dragged to multiple stores, as nothing seemed to satisfy Kurama's tastes.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" asked Mizuki at one point, fiddling with his sleeves anxiously as he followed the Tengu through yet another store. Because it really didn't seem like he did.

"Of course I do," he replied indignantly. "I just...haven't found it yet."

"You know, you haven't done much to prove that there is a place here I would actually like," said Mizuki, playing with the ends of the scarf they'd found, one of the only things he actually liked. "I'm beginning to think that you lied to me Tengu-kun."

"I did not. You just need to be patient."

Mizuki sighed, following the Tengu through the noisy streets, keeping close so he didn't get lost before they found whatever it was that Kurama wanted to show him that was so great. Hopefully it wasn't going to be a colossal waste of his time.

As they walked, Mizuki noticed that the number of people had begun to dwindle and consequently the noise of the city began to die down.

"I thought you said this was in the city?" asked Mizuki skeptically.

"It is, sort of. It's just not downtown. Trust me, you'll like it."

"You seem very sure about this."

Kurama just grinned but said nothing more as they walked.

Gradually, a familiar sound reached Mizuki's ears, the tell tale sound of running water. Now his interest was piqued and he had to admit, the Tengu had him there. Before long, the smell of a river reached his nose and he knew he'd been had. A river, a pond, a lake, he'd never be able to resist a body of water, even if it was near the city. Ever since he could remember he'd been drawn to water.

"That's fighting dirty," said Mizuki, puffing his cheeks out in mild annoyance.

"Since when? I just said I bet I knew a place in the city that you would like," he said with a grin. "And I do." He gestured with one arm to the river before them and Mizuki had to admit that it was nice.

The river itself was calm and quiet and not particularly large. It was quiet too, the only sounds produced those by the wind through the trees and across the water and the occasional chirp of unseen birds.

Even the air seemed cleaner and Mizuki idly wondered if there was some kind of protection around the area.

"It's my secret spot," explained Kurama, making his way to the edge of the river.

"Secret spot?"

"Even idols need to get away once in a while. So I come here for some peace and quiet. Since it's near the edge of the city, people rarely come here. So don't tell anyone, it's. a. secret." Kurama grinned as he held his finger up to his lips in a shushing sort of gesture.

"A secret place huh?"

Mizuki wasn't quite sure that he bought the idea that no one knew about the place, they had followed a path to get there after all, but it did seem like at the very least not a lot of people knew about it.

"So what do you think? Does it meet your high standards little snake?"

"Fine, I suppose you were right. The city isn't all bad I guess. Even if this just barely counts as being in the city," said Mizuki.

"Perhaps, but it still counts. And I like it." Kurama stuffed his hands in his pockets as he looked out across the water.

"How come you don't just go home then, if you want to get away?" asked Mizuki, coming up beside him.

"I do. But sometimes I just want to go out. That's why I like coming here. It's quiet and out of the away enough if I want to just, get away, take my mind off things."

Getting away sounded nice, to somewhere quiet to be alone with your thoughts, to relax, and he could see why the Tengu would choose a place like this.

"And I have to say, I think it does the job pretty well."

"Oh?"

Kurama grinned, "Well, have you so much as thought about what was bothering you last night since we left?" he asked.

Mizuki opened his mouth to respond but stopped, it was true, ever since Kurama had brought up knowing 'a place he'd like' that morning he hadn't thought about Nanami or his broken heart or his jealousy at all. He'd been too focused on the shopping trip and trying to figure out what sort of place the Tengu could have been talking about, to think about anything else.

"I thought as much," said Kurama, bending down to pick up a stone from the shoreline. "And you doubted me."

"Alright fine. You were right. It's, nice. Maybe I'll start using it as a place to get away once in a while, to hide when Tomoe's being particularly obnoxious. If that's not a problem with you."

"Why would it be, I don't own this spot," said Kurama, turning and flinging the stone out over the river, skipping it across the surface of the water several times. "I won't stop you."

A quiet place to escape once in a while, yeah that sounded nice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, obviously enough, I changed the title. I didn't like the og title cause it was just something i tossed on cause I needed to post it and couldn't leave it untitled.

Mizuki didn't think he was going to make use of the get away spot anytime soon, but less than a week later he found himself sitting on the bank of the river, tossing rocks in in some strange attempt to relieve his frustration.

Within a week he was back again, though this time for a nap in the sun, sprawled out on a rock where he couldn't be disturbed, as every attempt back at the shrine had resulted in being chastised by Tomoe for being lazy. He wasn't lazy, just tired, he deserved a break. And besides, Lady Nanami had said it was ok.

And again and again he found himself down there, often alone but sometimes he'd find Kurama there, or Kurama would find him, to the point that it was almost routine and they would use the time to catch up and fill each other in on what had happened. So routine in fact that they did make it a routine.

So when Kurama didn't show up one day, Mizuki knew something was wrong.

' _It's getting late, I wonder where he is?_ ' thought Mizuki, looking up at the sky and the sinking sun. Kurama was never this late. ' _I didn't get the date wrong did I and this is a concert night?_ ' No that couldn't be it, they always made sure to plan for that, especially since Kurama knew in advance when those things were happening, which he usually did.

' _Well, it couldn't hurt if I just, swung by his place, could it? Perhaps he just forgot._ '

Summoning up a snake, he took to the air and headed for Kurama's house.

Alighting on the ground he glanced around, hands tucked into his sleeves. Everything was quiet and most of the lights were off.

' _Is he even home?_ ' wondered Mizuki as he approached the door. A quick test of the door knob revealed that the front door was unlocked. So either he was home or someone had broken in. Mizuki quite hoped it was the first.

Perhaps he'd just taken a nap and lost track of time, that sort of thing was easy to do.

"Tengu-kun?" He looked around as he stepped inside the mostly dark house. A light came from the kitchen, spilling into the hallway and he heard the sound of shuffling feet from the same direction.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion," called Mizuki. "But you never showed up and I just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten or something."

For a moment there was no answer, then Kurama stepped out of the kitchen, and he looked dreadful.

He was wrapped up in a thick blanket, clutching it tightly around himself and he looked almost as pale as Mizuki, save for his cheeks which were heavily flushed. His wings were a dishevelled mess, with tiny feathers falling off as he moved.

"Mizuki...?" he asked in a raspy voice before devolving into a coughing fit where he stood. The coughs shook his whole body and he had to lean on the door for support, shaking as he wavered on the spot.

No wonder he hadn't shown up, he was sick.

Mizuki frowned and was at his side in an instant, wrapping an arm around him for support so he didn't end up on the floor.

"You should really be in bed, you look awful." He pressed a hand to Kurama's forehead and winced, his skin felt like it was on fire. "And you're burning up too." He frowned, there was no way Kurama had just woken up like this. "How long have you been like this?"

"Couple days?" mumbled Kurama, leaning on Mizuki as he led him back to his room, to weak to try and resist. "Today's the worst."

"Several days?! And you didn't say anything?"

"'m fine," he replied. "Been fine on my own before."

Mizuki frowned, he'd done this sort of thing before? Been sick all alone? That was the worst time to be alone. Did he really have no one around to help him?

"You just rest ok?" he said, gently helping the Tengu into bed. "I'll take care of, whatever you were doing in the kitchen."

Kurama simply grumbled as he dropped onto the bed, still swaddled in the blanket he'd wrapped himself in.

"Now stay there," said Mizuki before heading to the kitchen to figure out what he'd been doing when he'd got there.

What he had been doing, it seemed, was heating the kettle, which sat on the stove top, steam escaping from the top of it with a high pitched squealing sound.

"I suppose he was making tea," he mused, looking at the table top and the cups sitting on it. Though he had either forgotten the tea or hadn't pulled it out yet.

Well, that settled that, while there may have been a lot of things he didn't know how to do, tending to someone who was under the weather, and making tea, was something Mizuki could do.

He pushed his sleeves up, it was time to get to work.

Mizuki dug through the cupboards searching for the tea so he could finish preparing that, then set about preparing a dish and a cool cloth before looking to see if there was any kind of light, easy to eat food that Kurama could eat; given his condition who knew when the last time he'd eaten was.

He couldn't understand, how could he manage this all by himself? It looked like he could barely stand and was ready to collapse at any moment. No one should have been alone at a time like that. He couldn't imagine being all alone while being that sick. The very thought was terrifying.

He sighed and shook his head, pressing a clean washcloth into the bowl he'd filled with water, watching as tiny bubbles floating to the surface as the fabric became saturated with water.

Mizuki worked quietly, preparing the tea and a bowl of warm soup. Once everything was done he flicked his wrist, summoning up a snake familiar to help carry everything back to Kurama's room.

In the time Mizuki had been gone, Kurama had buried himself under mounds of blankets and between those and the feathers it was hard to tell where one end started and the other ended.

"Come on now don't be like that," chided Mizuki, pulling at the blanket to straighten them out a bit, Kurama grumbling at having been disturbed. "I have tea and soup, you need to get something into you."

Kurama mumbled incoherently as he sat up, still keeping the blanket pulled up around him. Up close he looked even worse and Mizuki wondered how he hadn't passed out yet.

"You cook?" asked Kurama, eyeing the bowl in Mizuki's hands.

"I don't cook a lot of things, but I do know how to take care of someone that's sick," he said. "And making soup is fairly straight forward." He paused. "Besides, I just followed the instructions."

Kurama gave a scratchy laugh and shook his head. "You don't have to do this you know," he said, accepting the teacup from Mizuki. "I can take care of myself."

"You shouldn't have to in your condition," protested Mizuki. "All you should be concerning yourself with is resting and getting better. If you stress yourself too much you'll only get worse. So just rest, ok?"

Kurama sighed before turning to the tea, hands clasped tightly around the cup, the heat making his fingers and palms tingle. He drank slowly and quietly as Mizuki rang out and folded up the small cloth, resting it on the edge of the dish.

"Here, you should eat something," he said, picking up the bowl of soup and dipping the spoon in and holding it out.

"I can feed myself you know. I'm not that sick."

"I want you to eat and not wear this. Besides your hands are full, so don't complain."

Kurama looked down at the soup spoon in Mizuki's hand, then back up at Mizuki who clearly wasn't budging from this idea.

"You're really not giving up on this huh?" he asked.

"Absolutely not. Besides unless you tell anyone it's not like anyone is going find out, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Kurama sighed and eventually relented, allowing Mizuki to slowly feed him, the snake familiar apparently quite happy to do so. When he finished, Kurama lay back in bed, drawing the covers up around his chin.

"You just sleep," said Mizuki, picking up the damp cloth and placing it on his forehead while he gathered up the dishes. "You look like you need it. Just let me take care of things."

Dishes in hand, Mizuki made his way back to the kitchen to dispose of them.

' _I should probably see if he has any medicine,_ ' he thought as he dropped everything in the sink. Of course, would human medicine even work on him given that he wasn't human? Well it was just a cold so probably, besides it wouldn't hurt to try.

Trying to locate medicine however was a problem in and of itself, as Mizuki didn't know the layout of the house at all and no idea where anything was. And he didn't want to disturb Kurama to ask.

"Help me look, and try to be quiet," he said, summoning up several small snakes as helpers and sending them out into the house to search. The more eyes the better.

One by one the snakes returned to him, shaking their heads and vanishing as they did. Nothing. This meant he'd have to go out and get some. Oh that thought was terrifying to say the least. As the last snake vanished he grabbed a jacket to cover up before rifling around for Kurama's wallet.

' _I hope he doesn't mind if I borrow a bit of money,_ ' he thought as he put the wallet in a pocket.

Mizuki didn't really want to leave Kurama alone, but he needed to pick up some medicine for him. Well as long as he didn't take too long it wouldn't be a problem would it? As he stepped outside he sent off a few spirit snakes to track down the closest pharmacy, the less time he spent hunting for that the better.

He paced about anxiously, fiddling with the jacket sleeves as he waited, occasionally looking up at the sky. It had gone dark at some point, the sun having finally dipped below the horizon while he was inside.

Eventually a snake returned and wrapped itself around his arm to lead the way.

As they made their way to the pharmacy, Mizuki couldn't help but to spare a look up at the sky; thick, dark clouds had rolled in at some point, obscuring the starry sky above and making it even darker than it already was.

' _I hope that's nothing to worry about,_ ' he thought, turning his attention back to the course at hand.

Silently he alighted on the ground out of view of any humans before making his way onto the street and towards the pharmacy, its warm lights a welcome sight in the darkness.

Vanishing his serpentine helper he stepped inside, the door chiming as it opened.

Human shops were so strange to him. The bright lights hummed with a barely perceptible buzz and they were noisy and packed to the brim with customers or sometimes were quiet enough to hear a pin drop, there never seemed to be an in between. This one certainly fit the latter category; Mizuki could only see two other people in the store, a little old lady browsing the shelves and a bored looking clerk behind the counter.

It wasn't until he was walking up and down the shelves that Mizuki realized that he had no idea where to find the medicine he was looking for, or what he was looking for. All the names on the bottles and boxes were just so strange. And the fact they often were covered in long, strange words he'd never seen before certainly didn't help matters.

"You look lost," said a soft voice and he nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning about in the direction of the speaker. It was the little old lady from earlier.

"O-oh that's, I, I'm just trying to find some medicine for my friend. But I'm, not sure what I need."

"Oh my. Well what seems to be wrong with your friend?"

"Well, he has a fever and a cough," explained Mizuki. "He's so bad he's stuck in bed. I thought he was going to collapse earlier."

"Sounds like your friend caught a nasty cold," she said before grabbing him by the arm. "I know just what he needs." Before Mizuki could even protest or ask where she was taking him, he was being dragged off through the aisles. Apparently humans were going to interact with him whether he wanted them too or not.

"Here we go, this is what your friend needs." The woman plucked a box off the shelf and pressed it into Mizuki's hands.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at the box, the contents rattling about as he held it.

"I've treated plenty of colds in my lifetime young man, this is exactly what you're looking for."

The box did say 'cold remedy' on it alongside a list of symptoms it was meant to treat, so there was clearly truth to her words.

"Thank you," he said with a polite nod. "You've been very helpful."

"You just make sure your friend gets better," she said, patting his hand gently before resuming her shopping.

As Mizuki made his way to the counter there was a loud, resounding crack outside, followed by a boom as the heavens opened up, releasing a downpour. The rain came down in heavy torrents, pounding on the pavement and drumming against the windows as thunder rumbled somewhere in the sky above.

"Whoo, it's really coming down out there," said the clerk as Mizuki came up to the counter. "Hope you got an umbrella."

"I'll be fine," said Mizuki, placing the medicine on the counter before digging around for the wallet and painstakingly counting out cash to pay for it.

With his purchase paid for and bagged, Mizuki left, taking to the sky on a snake as soon as he was out of sight of any prying eyes. The rain passed by him, as if he was shrouded by an invisible barrier, leaving him dry as they flew. It did not however stop the wind or block out the sound, so Mizuki had to brace himself against the howling wind as it whipped past him, blowing right through his clothes and chilling him to the bone. The air crackled around him and he dropped from the sky moments before a flash of lightning lit up the dark skies.

' _That was to_ _o_ _close,_ ' he thought, looking up at the thunderclouds above. Getting struck by lightning would certainly not do him any good, not now. He continued on, though lower this time to avoid becoming a target for the storm and bolted into the house the moment he got back.

"...il snake?" Kurama stirred slightly as Mizuki peered into his room, lifting his head up from the mess of blankets and dropping the cloth onto his stomach.

"I was getting some medicine. I'm not sure if it'll work on you since it's human medicine but it couldn't hurt. I hope I didn't wake you."

Kurama shook his head. "Wasn't asleep. Storm's louder than you anyways."

"How are you feeling, any change yet?"

"Like my head is full of stuffing. Everything just feels heavy."

"This should help you feel better then. I hope," said Mizuki, handing him the medicine in a small cup.

"You know, you should go home. You might get sick if you stick around here to long," said Kurama as he downed the medicine, recoiling at the taste.

Mizuki frowned and looked at him incredulously. "I am a divine creature, I'm not going to catch your little cold."

"Suit yourself then," said Kurama as he lay back down, sinking under the covers once again.

"You just rest, I'll take care of everything."


	3. Chapter 3

Kurama panted and gasped, twisting around as he struggled against the thick, smothering darkness that seemed to enfold him. It restricted his movements, trapping and pinning him, snaring his wings to his sides.

With a gasp, his eyes flew open and he found himself staring up at the ceiling of his room, heart pounding in his chest. For a moment he lay there, brain still foggy from sleep. Then he moved, or at least tried to, the blankets had become wrapped around him in his sleep like a cocoon and restricted his movements. And worst of all he felt, gross. All wet and stuffy, and hot and cold at the same time. Through muffled complaints he finally extracted himself from the blanket trap, just about throwing it off himself in the process.

Ugh, no wonder he felt wet and gross, he was absolutely drenched with sweat, his clothes sticking to him like he'd taken a bath with them on. He must have sweated his fever out.

He groaned as he rubbed his forehead as he sat up, he needed a shower and change of clothes, there was no way he could go back to bed like this, let alone sleep. As he moved about, his arm bumped something at the side of the bed and stopped as his fingers brushed something soft and fluffy.

Turning, he was startled to see Mizuki, kneeling beside the bed and fast asleep, head and arms resting on the side of it.

Kurama stared, had Mizuki been there all night? Why? He should have gone home once he was done, or at least slept on the couch or something. He sighed and patted Mizuki's head softly before crawling around him and out of bed to clean up.

Kurama stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, running his hands down his face. While he no longer felt as bad as he had the last couple days, he still looked like death warmed over. He was a clammy mess, his skin still sickly pale, and his hair and feathers were a matted mess from a combination of sweat and tossing and turning all night.

' _Man I look awful,_ ' he thought, running a hand through his hair. ' _I really do need a shower._ '

Mizuki awoke to the rhythmic sound of running water from another room. It didn't sound like a faucet running, or even the rain, but more like a shower. A shower, strange, he and Kurama were the only ones in the house and he certainly wasn't take a shower, and Kurama was sick so it couldn't be him. Immediately he shot up, snapped awake by the thought that there was an intruder. The thought only lingered for a moment however as his now cleared mind shot back that that was absolutely silly, why would an intruder break in just to use the shower? Which only left Kurama. A quick glance at the bed confirmed that it was indeed the Tengu running the shower, the bed now empty save for a mess of sheets and feathers.

About a million worried thoughts rushed through Mizuki's mind, after all Kurama was sick and should have been in bed, what if something happened like he passed out and got hurt? Before he could do anything however the sound stopped and was replaced by the muffled sound of someone moving around in the other room. About a minute later, the door opened and Kurama emerged into the bedroom, one towel wrapped around his waist while he dried his hair off with a second.

"Oh, you're awake," he said as Mizuki sputtered and hurried to hide his face behind his hands. "What are you doing?"

"You-re-you're indecent!" squeaked the snake, cheeks flaring red from behind his hands.

Kurama just frowned and glanced down before looking back at him. "The important bits are covered."

"That's not the point!" whined Mizuki, blindly stumbling past him and towards the door. "Besides, you should be in bed resting."

"A little hard to rest when you're all sweaty," said Kurama, draping his towel around his shoulders. "And I feel better this morning."

"Just...just get dressed and I'll go get breakfast ready," stammered Mizuki, hurriedly excusing himself from the room.

Kurama shook his head, he was hardly 'indecent'. It wasn't like he'd walked in without a towel on or anything, he was covered up. Besides, surely this couldn't have been the first time Mizuki had seen someone that undressed, could it?

Mizuki could only stammer and blush as he left the room, face still buried in his hands. Would it have killed Kurama to put on more than just a towel? Sure it was his house but he wasn't exactly alone in it. And he didn't even have the decency to be embarrassed about it either, did he have any modesty?

He sighed as he stumbled into the kitchen, trying to will away the heat in his cheeks. God, no wonder he lived alone.

The kitchen was nice and clean, Mizuki having taken the time the night before to clean it up, as Kurama had left it something of a mess. And the feathers, oh there were just feathers everywhere on the floor. Thankfully they were mostly small ones so all it took was a broom to gather them all up into a pile for disposal.

' _Well, let's see if there's anything to make for breakfast,_ ' he thought, heading to the fridge and cupboards. He wouldn't say he was a great cook, but he was learning, slowly. He could make simple things, but at least it was edible.

"Hey, little snake, could you help me a moment?"

"Are you actually dressed? Decently?" asked Mizuki, keeping his back to the Tengu.

"Yes I'm dressed. I just, kind of need a bit of help. With my wings."

Oh, that was interesting.

"Your wings?" Tentatively, Mizuki turned around to face the somewhat sheepish looking Tengu that stood in the kitchen doorway. True to his word he was dressed, thankfully, and he had his wings out, though rather than being held high or folded up they were drooping behind him. As Mizuki looked him over his gaze landed on the brush that he held in one hand.

"Normally I could manage this on my own but, I think I need some help this morning." Kurama shifted on the spot awkwardly, holding out the brush. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't have to, trust me."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Mizuki, taking the brush from him and looking him over curiously.

Kurama jerked his thumb over his shoulder at his wings, "I just need some help with these, brushing out some of the loose feathers and straightening things out a bit. They're all ratty and messy and there's a bunch that've fallen out but are stuck."

Mizuki craned his head for a better look at Kurama's wings and he was telling the truth. The once shimmering, glossy feathers looked thin and ragged and clumped together in spots, not helped the least by the fact that they were still damp from the shower.

"It's partly cause I'm sick and partly stress," he said explained with a sigh as he grabbed a chair. "Either one of those can cause feathers to go screwy. But being sick is stressful so, it's just sort of a mess now." He flopped down in the chair, backwards, leaning on the back of it with his back to Mizuki. "And don't worry, I'll guide you so you don't mess up."

Carefully and gently, Mizuki took part of the wing in one hand while holding the brush in the other. It had fine, soft bristles which hooked the loose feathers, pulling them out as Mizuki moved the brush down the wings.

Mizuki never been this close to wings of any sort before and it was fascinating to him. They were a lot larger than they looked and quite a bit softer and he had to resist the urge to run his fingers through Kurama's feathers.

"So what do I do with the feathers?" asked Mizuki, picking them out of the brush.

"Just drop them on the floor for now," said Kurama. "I'll clean up after."

As Mizuki dragged the brush through Kurama's wings, he couldn't help but notice how he seemed to wince with each movement.

"Are you ok?" he asked, lowering the brush. "I'm not tugging or hurting you am I?"

"N-no, you're fine. If I didn't know any better I'd say you'd done this before."

"Oh no, the only wings I've ever seen belong to birds, and only from a distance." He drew the brush down and through Kurama's feathers again, the Tengu visibly shivering at the touch and burying his face in his arms with a muffled whine sound. "Are you, sure you're ok?"

"Mmm. I'm fine it's just..." Kurama trailed off for a moment, mumbling slightly. "'is weird," he said.

"Weird?"

"I don't...it's not...it's weird having someone else touch my wings. Someone's who's not me or like, family," he said finally, lifting his head a little bit to look back at Mizuki. "So it's just a bit, awkward."

"O-oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Not your fault," he mumbled, cheek leaning on his arm.

Mizuki continued to quietly brush his wings, the pile of feathers on the floor growing with each stroke of the brush. The result was slow but noticeable, his wings looked less scraggly and messy, and while they weren't their usual glossy, fluffy self they didn't look as bad as they had. Even Kurama seemed more comfortable and Mizuki thought for a moment that he was going to roll over in contentedness and right off the chair. He didn't, luckily, and by the time Mizuki finished he was a bit concerned that the Tengu had gone and fallen asleep.

"Ah, Tengu-kun are yo-"

PLOMPF

Mizuki was cut off as Kurama's wings suddenly and abruptly ruffled and stretched out, just about smacking him in the face in the process.

"Sorry about that," he said, slipping off the chair as he stood up,

"What are you doing?"

"Adjusting the feathers. If they're not just right it's going to bother me till they are," replied Kurama, continuing to shake and fluff his wings till he was apparently satisfied with the feather placement. "I didn't hit you did I?"

Mizuki shook his head, "You just missed."

As Kurama was fixing himself up, brushing off tiny downy feathers and folding his wings back up, Mizuki took a step towards him and placed a hand on his forehead while placing the other on his own.

"What are you doing?" asked Kurama awkwardly, trying to back away as Mizuki was nearly nose to nose with him.

"Well, you don't feel as hot as last night," said Mizuki, letting his hands fall to his sides. "So that's a good sign."

"Must be your expert doctoring then."

Mizuki could only manage to blush.

After cleaning up the feathers from the floor and getting something to eat for the both of them, Kurama finally manage to convince Mizuki to return to the shrine. He wasn't nearly as sick as he had been so he didn't need to be looked after anymore, and more to the point, Nanami was sure to be worried as Mizuki had been gone the whole night without telling anyone.

He was right, when Mizuki finally arrived back at the shrine he was immediately set upon a concerned Nanami and an annoyed Tomoe, both for the same reason, that he'd gone out the day before and hadn't come back. And when the storm blew up it only made Nanami even more worried for his safety.

Between apologies and grovelling, Mizuki did his best to explain where he'd been and why, that he couldn't bring himself to leave a sick Kurama alone in his state.

"Honestly," sighed Tomoe. "I know I've said that Nanami needs a cell phone, but I didn't think the day would come when you of all people would need one."

Unfortunately he didn't go unpunished, as despite Nanami forgiving him, Tomoe did not, which turned into Tomoe heaping more work on him.

'To keep you from getting into any mischief,' he'd claimed, though Mizuki was pretty sure he was just trying to work him to death.


	4. Chapter 4

Mizuki groaned as he opened his eyes, his vision blurry from sleep. He didn't want to get up, despite having slept all night he was exhausted, all the extra chores and work that Tomoe had been giving him all week was finally catching up with him.

With a tired groan he rolled onto his side, trying to will himself up. His body felt heavy and wondered for a moment if something had been left on top of him while he slept-it wouldn't be the first time that Tomoe had dumped blankets and the like on him while he slept. But there was only his own blanket covering him, as usual.

Sitting up didn't do much to help, his limbs still felt like they were made of rocks. And his head, ugh, it felt like it was full of cotton and all he wanted to do was roll over and sleep some more. He was about to contemplate doing just that, when he heard the sound of pattering feet in the hall near his room.

"Ok I'm awake Tomoe!" he called. "No need to come wake me up."

"Oh, Master Tomoe and Lady Naname went out a little while ago," replied Onikiri, the shrine spirit peering into Mizuki's room. "I believe they said they were grocery shopping."

A merciful blessing if ever Mizuki had heard one.

"In that case, I'm going out. I need a break and I won't get that if I'm here when Tomoe comes back," he said, pulling himself to his feet slowly. The last thing he wanted were more chores heaped on him.

Kurama was glad to finally have a day off. A day to himself was nice, his whole week having been jam packed. Sometime he wondered if being an idol was worth all the trouble. Sure it was fun, and he enjoyed the attention, but things like free time and privacy were almost non existent. So getting a whole day off was great. He wanted to spend it lazing about, but of he didn't make his regular appearance he was sure Mizuki would turn up at his house in a panic. And he'd worried the poor guy enough for one lifetime.

So he headed to the riverside to at least let him know he wasn't going to be staying, or leave a message on the off chance he was the first one there.

At least that had been the plan.

As he arrived, Kurama thought that he had in fact arrived first, something that only happened rarely. But as he looked around he felt a sense of unease, a feeling confirmed when he caught sight of a figure, lying prone near the trees by the shore. As he got closer he spotted a familiar white scarf around their neck and realized that this wasn't some random person.

"Hey, is everything alright?" he asked as he started down the hill, pace beginning to quicken as the sense of unease grew. "Little snake?"

No response. Which itself was concerning as Mizuki was quite chatty, and Kurama had his doubts that he was sleeping like that. For one thing it did not look the least bit comfortable.

Concerned, he just about flew down the small hill to his side.

"Mizuki?" he asked, reaching out a hand tentatively. He was still breathing, so that was a good sign. Carefully, he rolled him over and very quickly got his answer. The snake's cheeks were flushed a rather vivid red and his breathing was laboured, almost panting. On a hunch Kurama placed a hand on his forehead to check his suspicions and he almost recoiled as his hand touched his skin. Mizuki was burning up.

Well, so much for his plans then. Carefully he manoeuvred Mizuki around so he was, for a scant few moments, laying in his lap, before getting his arms around and under him and scooping him up. The first order of business was to get him back to the shrine, the purity and cleanliness of the air there would be a lot better for him. Plus Nanami or Tomoe was sure to know what to do.

' _Honestly, you weren't supposed to_ _take_ _getting sick_ _as a challenge_ _,_ ' he thought, shaking his head. Despite what he'd said about Mizuki getting sick if he hung around him, Kurama hadn't actually been sure if a divine being like a god's familiar could actually get sick, least of all from a mundane cold.

"Let's hope someone knows what's wrong," he said as he spread his wings

"Nanami! Tomoe!" Kurama called out for them as he landed at the entrance to the shrine. "You guys around?"

"I'm afraid Lady Nanami and Master Tomoe are out at the moment," said one of the shrine spirits as the pair appeared, bounding towards him. "And Mizuki is-" Onikiri trailed off with a gasp as she looked up and spotted Mizuki in Kurama's arms.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here," said Kurama. "I think he might be sick."

"Quick, bring him inside the shrine!" said Kotetsu, suddenly behind Kurama and pushing on the back of his legs while Onikiri gestured for him to follow her.

Doing his best to not drop the snake, Kurama followed the shrine spirits into the shrine, carefully setting Mizuki down.

Onikiri and Kotetsu trotted off quickly, returning in the blink of an eye with blankets, which they tossed over Mizuki none to gracefully, leaving Kurama to straighten them out.

"Honestly, how did he even get sick?" mused the Tengu out loud as he tucked Mizuki in. "I didn't think he could."

"Perhaps it's from all the work Lord Tomoe has been making him do," said Onikiri.

"Or the rain storm he got caught out in the other day," added Kotetsu.

Kurama sighed, "What are we going to do with you?" He turned to the shrine spirits, "Hey you guys got any medicine around here? I don't think human medicine is gonna cut it for him." He placed a hand against Mizuki's forehead. "Or at least something for his fever."

At that the spirits darted off to parts unknown.

"Man, this isn't how I planned to spend my day off," sighed Kurama, running a hand through his hair.

"You can...leave..." said Mizuki weakly, pulling the edge of the covers down slightly to look up at Kurama.

"Naw. You stayed with me when I was under the weather, so this is the least I can do," he said. "So just rest ok?"

Mizuki made a soft whining noise in protest, burying himself under the blankets again.

Well, it wasn't really like he had any plans for that day anyways. Kurama shifted his position, crossing his legs as he made himself comfortable on the floor beside Mizuki.

The shrine spirits came skittering back in, carrying above their heads a basin of water and a cloth.

"So I take it that's a no on the medicine then," said Kurama, watching at they set everything down.

"All we could find was human medicine," said Kotetsu. "For Lady Nanami."

"Looks like you're gonna have to tough this one out little snake," said Kurama, dipping the cloth into the basin of water, carefully squeezing out all the air bubbles before taking the wet cloth out and ringing out the excess water. Folding it into a narrow rectangle he placed it on Mizuki's forehead.

"Oi, snake, where are you? It doesn't look like you've done anything!" Tomoe called from outside the shrine and Kurama just about jumped out of his skin, releasing the damp cloth and almost dropping it on Mizuki's face instead.

The door slid open to reveal Tomoe and Nanami, both laden with grocery bags of food, if the vegetables poking out were any indication.

Tomoe started to speak, stopped when he caught sight of Kurama, seated comfortably on the floor of the shrine and gave him a disapproving look. "What are you doing here?"

Kurama pointed to the blanketed lump on the floor. "Your snake is sick. I brought him back for you."

Tomoe frowned and craned his neck for a look before sighing. "Well, I suppose I was wrong about you being an idiot," he said. "Because idiots can't catch colds."

"Kuraaaamaaaaa!" whined Mizuki, pulling the blankets further over his head. "Tomoe's being mean to me again."

Kurama was saved from responding as Nanami took the opportunity to intervene on Mizuki's behalf, giving the kitsune a light smack on the back of his head and chastised him for being so mean to Mizuki, which was perhaps a good thing as his brain was to stuck on the fact that Mizuki had actually called him by name, to say or do anything else. Mizuki had never referred to him by name before, it was always 'Tengu-kun'.

' _So, he actually does know my name,_ ' he thought.

"Tomoe, why don't you put these away? I'll deal with Mizuki," said Nanami, pushing the other bag into his hands and just about shoving him out of the room.

As the door shut behind him, she turned back to Kurama and Mizuki. "So what happened Kurama?" she asked, placing a hand on his arm. The light touch on his arm snapped Kurama out of his thoughts rather abruptly and back to reality.

"Oh uh, I found him passed out in the grass and brought him back here," he said.

Nanami sighed, "I knew Tomoe was working him to hard. I'll have to talk to him about cutting back on his work. I know he's mad but still, that's no excuse."

"What did he do this time to get on Tomoe's bad side?"

"It's because of last week. He was gone all night one day and didn't let anyone know so I, sort of worried," said Nanami, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Tomoe chewed him out pretty good when I got back from what I heard."

Oh, oh dear. "Ah that's sort of my fault," said Kurama sheepishly.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, "He found out I got sick and wouldn't leave my side. He insisted on looking after me."

"Wait you were sick?!"

Oh, that was apparently the wrong thing to say. He'd sort of assumed that Mizuki had told them, apparently not.

"Well I-"

"How bad was it? Are you ok?"

"I-I-I'm fine!" stammered Kurama, falling backwards slightly as Nanami suddenly invaded his personal space. "It was just a cold. I pretty much slept it off that night. I promise I'm fine. Not like it's the first time I've been sick."

That was clearly the wrong thing to say, as suddenly Nanami's hands were on his shoulders and she was almost nose to nose with him.

"What? And you never told anyone?"

"N-Nanami!" he yelped. "It's not that bad I promise. I just, didn't want to worry anyone, or be a bother."

"Kurama! You wouldn't be a bother," she said.

"Iss what I told him too," said Mizuki.

"H-hey, you keep quiet," huffed Kurama, grabbing the blankets and pulling them over Mizuki and hiding him from sight. "You're sick and supposed to be resting."

A quiet, muffled 'meanie' came from under the layers of sheets and Nanami laughed slightly.

"I'll go talk to Tomoe, see if I can get him to back off a bit. I think Mizuki's learned his lesson by now." Nanami stood up, though not before giving Mizuki and comforting pat and headed for the door.

"Sorry I ruined your day," said Mizuki quietly, peeping over the edge of the covers at Kurama as the door to the room slid shut with Nanami's exit.

Kurama shrugged, "Wasn't like I had much planned anyways. I had the day off anyways." He looked over at Mizuki. "You did give me quite a scare earlier, when I found you passed out on the ground. If you're sick just stay in bed next time."

"I didn't think I was sick," mumbled Mizuki. "Just tired."

"Well, at least it doesn't seem to severe," said Kurama. "Not like what I had."

"Did you know Tomoe threatened to get me a cell phone?" asked Mizuki. "Can you imagine, me with a phone?"

Kurama snorted, "You'd freak out the first time it rang and probably destroy it."

"Hey, I'm not that bad."

"Do you even know how to use a phone?"

There was silence before Mizuki replied with a quiet 'no', pulling the blanket over his head and vanishing from sight.

Buried deep under the sheets, Mizuki eventually drifted back to sleep, snoring softly. True to his word, Kurama did stick around, though Tomoe roped him into helping around the shrine as Mizuki was out of commission and couldn't do it. It wasn't the worst, but it certainly wasn't how he wanted to spend his day off so he took the first opportunity he got to bail.

"Aw, I thought you were gonna stay with me," pouted Mizuki, sticking his head outside, still wrapped up in blankets.

"I didn't know I was going to be put to work," said Kurama. "I'll come bother you another time, hopefully when you're feeling better."

"Hey, Kurama-kun?"

Kurama paused as he readied to leave, looking back over his shoulder at Mizuki. "What is it?"

"Thank you."

Kurama opened his mouth to respond but was cut off before he even started.

"Where'd that crow get to?" asked Tomoe.

"Ah, that would be my cue to make myself scarce. I'll see you around." With that, Kurama spread his wings, taking off to go relax at home before Tomoe could drag him into more chores or work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized while editing this that Mizuki did tell them about Kurama being sick at the end of the last chapter but then here had Nanami act like she hadn't head that fact.   
> so. uh. Had to tweak that so that he mentioned it to Tomoe but not Nanami. lol
> 
> Probably would have gotten this up sooner but I got consumed with another fic that is ending up a lot longer than previously expected.


End file.
